NEWS

In Brief

STUDENT CHARGED

Alleged police brutality victim accused of resisting arrest Avgoustinos Dimitriou, a 24-year-old student who was allegedly beaten by police in Thessaloniki last week, has been charged with resisting arrest and being abusive, authorities said yesterday. Dimitriou has been at the center of claims of excessive force being used by law enforcement after video footage showed him being kicked and punched while lying on the ground. Separately, seven people charged with rioting during a march in Athens on Friday have been handed prison sentences ranging between five to 20 months. TB INVESTIGATION Inquiry into whether teacher put schoolchildren at risk Appeals prosecutor Giorgos Koliocostas yesterday ordered an investigation to find out whether a teacher had knowingly taught at a primary school in Aghios Dimitrios, southern Athens, while suffering from a contagious form of tuberculosis. Authorities said that 29 children had to be given medicine as a preventative measure. If there is enough evidence to prove the unnamed teacher was guilty, the he could be charged with attempted manslaughter. KIDNAPPING AVERTED Uncle saves boy at last minute A mother yesterday filed a suit against the unidentified man who allegedly attempted to abduct her 10-year-old son in Nikaia, near Piraeus. The incident is said to have taken place on Sunday night when the boy was playing with other children in a small park. The child was saved by his uncle who said he saw a man aged about 35 years old trying to drag the boy away. The alleged kidnapper ran off and police have launched a search for him. Fraudster nabbed Police in Cyprus yesterday arrested a Greek man who is wanted by US authorities on fraud charges. Officers found several forged passports and stolen items in the possession of 37-year-old Loukas Kakogeorgiou when they arrested him in Limassol. Cypriot Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous said that Kakogeorgiou had on him a US diplomatic passport which was valid until 2008. Sofocleous did not give anymore details. Lost train Athens prosecutor Panayiotis Poulios ordered an investigation yesterday into an incident in which an Athens train was split in half last week after its second carriage became detached from the engine without the driver realizing he had left the passengers behind. Poulios wants to establish whether any charges should be brought. Some 50 passengers were stranded in the train carriage for about 40 minutes before authorities detected the problem. Parking tickets Parking inspectors and police issued 500 tickets to cars illegally parked in central Athens yesterday on the pay parking system’s second day of operation. Sources said more kiosks had been supplied with the scratch cards motorists need to park in the area. Pefki beatings A 29-year-old man was hospitalized early yesterday with head injuries after he was beaten by a gang of six men in Pefki, northern Athens, police said. The gang threatened the victim at gunpoint before beating him and taking from him 35 euros and his mobile phone. Forty-five minutes later, a gang of four allegedly threatened a 25-year-old man at gunpoint, also in Pefki, before physically beating him and taking 50 euros and his phone. Meat fraud Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) inspectors yesterday located six butchers in Attica believed to have been selling meat originating from Bulgaria, Romania and other countries as Greek produce, which fetch higher prices. Three of the implicated butchers are in Loutsa, eastern Attica, and the other three in Oropos, northern Attica. Inspectors also confiscated more than a ton of frozen fish that had passed its expiry date in a warehouse in Rouf, west central Athens. Farmer shot A 45-year-old farmer, identified as Ilias Papasifakis, was found dead on his stock farm close to Hania, Crete, with three gunshot wounds, police said yesterday. Numerous officers are involved in the investigation, authorities added. Police said that it is the seventh murder recorded in the prefecture so far this year.

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